Bakery

Sugar Bakeshop

$

Locals leash their dogs to benches out front and pop in for coffee or to pick up curated boxes of cupcakes for birthday parties or office gatherings. College students and visitors alike stroll in for sweet snacks and jolts of caffeine.

TL;DR

Boutique little sweet shop

Come for

Who should go

Don’t leave without

Our Review

Let’s start with scale. Where are we between global flagship and neighborhood boutique?

Everyone needs a little treat now and then (or lots of them!). Sugar Bakeshop is owned by a pair of architects-turned-bakers who traded in New York’s hustle for the pastel houses and live oaks lining Cannon Street. Swing open their door, and breathe in heady aromas of whatever they’re baking at the moment (on my visit, it was ginger molasses cookies). Soft tunes of mellow jazz lower your tension instantly. This place is definitely one-of-a-kind, and with a name like Sugar, you don’t have to guess its specialty. What sets it apart from most bakeries is its dedication to natural and local ingredients. On my visit, a blender whirred loudly from the open kitchen, breaking down beets for use in a red velvet cupcake (no artificial red dye here!).

Excellent! What can we find here, or what should we look for?

Lining the small counter are pedestals chock full of cupcakes in a myriad of unexpected flavors like lemon curd, pistachio, honey, lavender, mint-strawberry, or grapefruit crowned with fresh raspberries and sugar-dusted blueberries. Flavors change seasonally. You can also opt for oversized cookies, or miniature tarts with flavors like peach or strawberry-rhubarb. Pair one or more with your choice of locally roasted coffee or tea (hot or iced) or a locally brewed Cannonborough soda whose flavor profiles are equally as inventive as the cupcakes. Enjoy your treats either on a bench out front next to potted camellias, or in the button-sized courtyard surrounded by yew hedges and English ivy (the front yard of the owners’ house).

If money’s no object, what goes in the cart?

A nine-inch strawberry-whipped-cream cake will set you back $58.

And … what if we’re on a strict budget?

A buttermilk tart or lime-sugar cookie is yours for $1.50.

Who else shops here?

Locals leash their dogs to benches out front and pop in for coffee or to pick up curated boxes of cupcakes for birthday parties or office gatherings. College students and visitors alike stroll in for sweet snacks and jolts of caffeine.

Any secret tips, or “don’t go home without” purchases?

On my visit, a bearded gentleman swung through the front door to deliver three crates loaded with 50 dozen fresh eggs from Palmetto Pastures, an all-natural free-range poultry operation about ninety minutes north of Charleston. “Thanks, Mike!” said one of the bakers. Sugar Bake Shop clearly invests in the highest quality ingredients around, and treats its purveyors with a smile. This bakery doesn’t hold any secrets. The kitchen is deliberately on full display so that you can see where your sweets are coming from. Possibly the only thing hidden from sight is Ginger, the couple’s yellow lab, who hangs out back to watch cupcakes being frosted, and barks if her view is interrupted.